[comp.arch] resolution & arch. dates

chris@mimsy.umd.edu (Chris Torek) (12/07/90)

>kls30@duts.ccc.amdahl.com (Kent L Shephard) writes:
>>... you have to get a PMMU on a 68020 which adds wait
>>states to memory.

Many Sun machines use a private MMU which does not (depending on machine)
add wait states, and of course the '020 has a 256-byte I-cache that the
386sx lacks.  Virtual caches can also help eliminate the MMU delays.  The
lack of 32-bit bus access in 386 mode is a serious speed impediment (of
course one can always use a *real* 80386, rather than the crippled version).
[End of Sun & architecture stuff.]

>>... resolution is the number of pixels, dot pitch determines
>>dpi.  Look at any number of publications and manufacturer's literature
>>and resolution is listed as 800x600, 1024x768, etc.

In article <1990Dec7.030303.20157@julius.cs.uiuc.edu> coolidge@cs.uiuc.edu
(John Coolidge) writes:
>Manufacturers who don't understand English, either conversational
>or technical. Resolution has a very clear and precise meaning, and
>it isn't the number of dots on your (arbitrarily big) monitor.
>[resolution is a measure of grain per unit area, e.g., dpi]

John is right, Kent is misled; these manufacturers are either stupid,
lazy, or conniving (or some combination thereof).  1024 pixels across
is very high resolution if the pixels are spaced uniformly over a line
one micrometer long, and very low resolution if the pixels are spaced
uniformly over a line one megaparsec long.  (The dots on the latter
are approximately 1E21 inches apart.  [Yes, I am one of those people
who runs `units' to compute furlongs per fortnight....  55 mph is about
10500 furlongs per day.])

>>If I'm not mistaken the 68k is circa 8086.

(I have no idea what this sentence is supposed to mean.)

>[The 80x86 series is compatible with a 1980-or-earlier design, the 680x0
> series with a 1982-3 design; the former has a stronger negative effect
> on the designer's abilities to make chips that run fast.]
(I hope this paraphrase of John's wording is close enough)

I am not sure of the relative timings of 8085, 8086, and 8088, but as
a high school student I worked for a company that was using the 8085 in
their microwave measurement instrument (the VM-4, for anyone who has
heard of Weinschel); this was designed before 1979, so the 8085 had to
be available by 1978 at the latest.
-- 
In-Real-Life: Chris Torek, Univ of MD Comp Sci Dept (+1 301 454 7163)
Domain:	chris@cs.umd.edu	Path:	uunet!mimsy!chris